Sweet Treasures

Here’s the kind of review I hate to give; one about cupcakes. I don’t know what I was expecting, maybe some good cupcakes. But for a baker, with a knack for cupcakes, I probably should never eat cupcakes out of my own house again unless Sheela starts making them. That would be the fudgin’ dream.

A little bit of background on my relationship with cupcakes: When Michael and I were looking at all the crap that includes getting married, I fell in love with Sheela Namakkal. It was a completely permissible affair. I have no real memory of the moment I found her, but she had been selling cupcakes through the Golden Fig, in St Paul and Mitrebox Framing Studio in Minneapolis I believe. And there were some vegan options!

The little 19 year old me was in love the moment I actually was able to try one. I’m pretty much a purist with food. You can make vegan, gluten-free cupcakes, but they better be goddamn good or you’re wasting your time. If you make gluten-free pasta and it doesn’t taste right, it’s a complete waste of time, energy, and product. Your brain is not stupid. You aren’t fooling it with your zoodles (I do actually enjoy zoodles for what they are). So having this vegan cupcake taste like the real deal was a truly mind blowing experience for me. It proved that it was achievable and set the standard.

A few month’s before our wedding Sheela had opened up Cake Eater Bakery and Cafe with her co-owner Emily Moore Harris. When Dara says it’s a good cupcake, you know it’s real. We splurged. We had a pretty small wedding budget to abide by, but the cupcakes were worth the expense. We each chose a flavor at a meeting with Sheela at the Caribou off of Grand Ave. God, I know it’s really stupid, but I was so nervous and pumped to meet such a cool lady. She just embodied everything a really badass lady should, ya know? I currently feel like a total creeper as I write this.

lemon lavender and cherry almond Cake Eater cupcakes

I find it hilarious and terrifying that she and I typically only have one degree of separation between us at any given moment. I really look up to her work and whatever she finds herself doing. But before I take a sharp turn and end this blog as a love letter to her, I need to make my point. Cupcakes in 2010 were the tits.

I began baking once I got home from our honeymoon. Literally the next day, I started work at a brand new bakery in Edina. I went on to complete some culinary school. I was a complete idiot and attempted to cater out of the kitchen and generosity of my boss’s kitchen. I developed a knack and love for these stupid little cakes. I can tell you the top three cupcakes of my lifetime off the top of my head, unfortunately none of them are close to my house or have already buried the cupcake liners a good five years ago.

A wedding gig completed in 2011 with more vegan cupcakes

Today, I randomly recalled the cupcake place, Sweet Treasures, being talked up by some of the mom’s in my various circles. I figured, why the hell not? Let’s pile in the car, drive a few minutes down the road and grab some treats. What’s there to lose. right? It’s in a slightly weird area, but can definitely get busy. There’s a banner outside celebrating the win of Food Network’s Car Wars. It’s a nicely marketed little shop.

There were about 12 flavors to choose from and they were straight up tiny giants. There were gluten-free options, though no vegan options. We chose Vanilla, Cookie Blast (might not be the actual name), and German Chocolate and scooted on home before the clock ran out for time. The woman at the counter was really helpful and nice and warned me that they might fall over.

I let Mac carry the cupcakes in the house and though he was careful one still flopped over. Then while trying to get a picture of the vanilla one for Mac, it flopped over onto my shirt. AND THEN the sucker flopped over on Mac as he was trying to get the icing with a lick. Geez, these were top heavy! And that was surprising the frosting was a whipped topping one that was a severe disappointment. There’s this strange phenomena occurring lately where the cupcakes around here where are so light and fluffy, yet have no structural integrity. It’s a real bummer.

Looking through their website, I see that cakes are their mainstay and they look stunning. I want to believe that they are a quality business and produce a gorgeous product, but I can’t speak for the cakes. They also make cakepops which are an obnoxiously, smart business move. Unfortunately, the cupcakes seem like a filler, though I know there are people who love them. Those people do not however include Mac or me.

All in all it was a good, quick trip out of the house. Maybe I’m just living in the past with my memories of eating leftover cupcakes for a month after our wedding. I am almost always willing to give them a second shot, so I’ll keep you posted on when that happens. I hate to give a lackluster review, but what would this whole blog be without some dang ole honesty?

*When estimating gas mileage, we have a good 15 mpg range in our Jeep Liberty, so chances are it costs much less for you per gallon. Sometimes having no car payments means putting up with a terrible mpg. All prices are adjusted based on current gas prices.

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I have to say that as far as GF cupcakes, they do offer a good variety of flavors, compared to almost everywhere else that only offers chocolate or vanilla while the gluten cupcakes next to them come in all sorts of lovely flavors. Sweet Treasures as least offers several options, which I really appreciate. Their chocolate is also not sickly artificial, like so many other cakeries, such as Small Cakes, in Apple Valley. Barff! No, they do not compare to what you had at your wedding – few cupcakes ever will – but they don’t make me sick and I like the flavors and the clean ingredient list. No one though can compare to the Cocoa and Fig S’more cupcakes. Those are my favorites. Full of gluten, but still…

That I will most certainly give them credit for. It’s nice that what’s offered is more than just the basics, but it still seems underwhelming. I just need to stop looking for good cupcakes. They’ve been found already.